1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer ceramic capacitor for preventing a tombstone phenomenon generated at the time of mounting the multilayer ceramic capacitor on a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
In accordance with the recent trend for the miniaturization of electronic devices, the use of a surface mounting substrate has increased. Therefore, chip components mounted on the surface mounting substrate have been continuously miniaturized. A capacitor, a type of chip component, has been widely used for various purposes in analog and digital electronic circuits.
Generally, a capacitor, an element capable of storing electricity therein, includes two electrodes facing each other, such that when it has a voltage applied thereto, electricity is accumulated in each of the electrodes. In the case in which a direct current (DC) voltage is applied to the capacitor, a current flows in the capacitor during the accumulation of electricity and does not flow therein when the accumulation of electricity is completed.
In addition, in the case in which an alternate current (AC) voltage is applied to the capacitor, the polarities of the electrodes are alternated, such that an AC current continuously flows therein. A performance of the capacitor is represented by capacitance F. A multilayer capacitor capable of implementing high capacitance in spite of having a small size has been widely used as the capacitor. The multilayer capacitor is widely used as a decoupling capacitor connected between a semiconductor chip and a power supply in a power supply circuit of a large scale integrated circuit (LSI), or the like.
However, as the multilayer capacitor has been gradually miniaturized, when it is mounted on a printed circuit board, a tombstone phenomenon may be generated. The tombstone phenomenon is a phenomenon in which, when a multilayer ceramic capacitor is mounted on a printed circuit board, an external electrode on any one side of external electrodes of the multilayer ceramic capacitor stands up in the manner of a tombstone due to the surface tension of fusion welding. The tombstone phenomenon causes serious defects in printed circuit boards.